Riding in the Rain … Just Riding in the Rain

There were two distinct rides this morning, the first was shorter than the second. Both were enjoyable.

The first ride was my route to the Rusty Bridge. It was dark and overcast. The lights on the bike gave me a small cone of light, just enough to see where I was going. The streets were damp to wet, but it was not raining. My mind was in full “pause” mode and the legs just made circles. I think I really didn’t wake up until the fox crossed my path. From then on, it was bunnies all over the place. When I arrived at the Rusty Bridge, Dave was already there, and it didn’t surprise me. He had “called Chet out” in an email last night. Chet had said he planned to ride unless it was raining. Dave asked why rain would stop a triathlete. With heavy rain approaching, I was fully expecting a display of testosterone. Sure enough, Chet showed up too. In the end, there were 6 of us who rode this morning. We had various ways to deal with the predicted rain. Dave had a shower cap over his helmet (it is a very effective method of keeping your head dry). Chip wore a rain jacket. I wore my cycling cap to keep the rain off my glasses. All of us had rain jackets in our jersey pockets.

The second ride began just as we pushed off from the Rusty Bridge. That’s when the rain started. It was very light at first. Eventually it simply became a steady rain. I rode with Jim K who was riding a fixie this morning. The rest eventually pushed off ahead at a little quicker pace. As the potholes filled up with water, we were careful to avoid the standing water. On Jennings Road, we met a car coming around the corner, and missed a collision by just a couple of feet. By the time we got to Old County Road, any hope of staying dry was completely out of the question. Even my water resistant shoes were starting to fill up. My wool socks wick water well, right from my ankle into my shoes. There was no need to use the rain jacket now. It was not cold enough to need the jacket for warmth so away we splashed down the trail in the 65° F rain.

The rain was heavy enough that debris was being washed off the roads and my bike at the end of the ride was much cleaner than at the beginning. Arriving home, I called out for a towel. Stripped off as much wet clothing as I dared on the front porch of the house, and came in feeling pretty refreshed. We don’t let ourselves get very wet with rain these days. Umbrellas, rain coats, boots, etc. all are used to keep us dry. I poured water out of my shoes, wrung my clothing out and dumped everything I could into the washing machine.

It was a great morning for a ride. To think I almost stayed in bed when I saw the radar this morning with the storm on the way. Look what I would have missed.

This is a screenshot of the rain near the end of the ride.

This Ride: 24 miles Month: 416.4 miles 2012: 2014.2 miles Total since 1/1/2010: 15,867.8 miles